


Fallout

by MalikEyelashes (verucasalt123)



Series: Come Back Home [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anger, Angst, Arguing, Flashbacks, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed, Tears, Zayn Leaves One Direction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 01:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10843458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verucasalt123/pseuds/MalikEyelashes
Summary: After Zayn leaves One Direction, he and Harry try to find ways to reconnect.





	Fallout

**Author's Note:**

> This is a WIP, I've got two more chapters done. Additional tags and characters will be added as the story goes along.

_Sorry, I can’t, I’ve got plans_

So yeah, he was _gone_. Just like that. It was the first thought that his brain processed when he woke in the morning (if he did; it wasn’t like Harry got much sleep these days). 

Zayn was _gone_ , not to take a break from hectic schedules and trying to hold hands where no one could see. Not because he needed to clear his head. Because that... well, none of them were thrilled about it but they did all love Zayn and wanted what was best for him. If he needed a week or two away, even when it was really bad timing, they were all more than willing to let him have it. 

At first, they left his spot open on the stage. Told anyone who asked that they supported their friend and bandmate. He’d be back soon, well-rested and in top condition to perform for the rest of the tour. None of the other lads wanted to give into their suspicion that it wasn’t the truth. The attention and the crowds and the mobs of screaming paps and fans had always been tougher for Zayn to live with than the rest of them; that was no secret. 

Of course, it would have been easier if he had put any effort into controlling his behavior when he knew there were always a thousand eyes watching, a thousand cameras at the ready.

The night before “the news” broke, Harry and Zayn had spent close to an hour on the phone; Harry in tears because even the thought of it pulled at his heart, Zayn because he knew it was over. Saying no to Harry about _anything_ had never been easy. That had been the catalyst to the two of them getting together in the first place. Zayn had a weak spot for Harry’s desires, but this...having to tell him _no_ while he was crying and begging, trying every bargain under the sun – Never again, Harry had sworn through his tears, he’d never ask again, he’d try to forget there had been anything going on between them in the first place. Sobbing and pleading and Christ, it had been the hardest thing Zayn had ever done, having to remain steadfast and trying so very hard through his own tears to make Harry understand that none of that mattered as far as this decision being made. He wasn’t leaving because they had a long history of hooking up with each other, he was doing it because being a part of One Direction just wasn’t what Zayn wanted anymore and he didn’t have it in him to pretend that it was for another entire year at the least. 

The next day when everything went public, there were very different and some fairly unexpected reactions from the band. 

Liam went quiet for a good long while, isolated himself behind a closed door, but then came back out and tried this very Liam-esque pep talk about how everything was going to be fine, it would all work itself out. That hadn’t done anyone any good (except maybe Liam), but it was what he did; every time there was a storm to be weathered, he was the one who carefully thought out and then spoke the most encouraging words he could come up with. 

Niall wasn’t known for being too emotional, especially angry; most bad news he absorbed and dealt with on his own before bouncing back to his usual self.

This, though, was not like _most bad news_. He barely took any time to think before he gathered up every glass he could carry and went outside.

Everyone could hear him screaming and cursing over the sound of glass breaking as he threw it at every available solid object. Liam almost went out to make sure Niall hadn’t hurt himself, but Harry just reached out to touch his arm and shook his head; that was enough to convince Liam to let Niall get on with his tirade for as long as it lasted. He eventually came back inside, still shaking and with tear tracks on his cheeks but no blood on his hands. Having a temper tantrum seemed to have calmed him a bit, but it was clear that he was still really pissed as he grabbed a beer and sat on the floor, downing half of it in one go.

None of them had all that much to say, except for Louis. It was no surprise to his bandmates that he yelled and knocked things over, spouting off on the subject of Zayn’s comment about this being the _right time_ for him to leave the band. 

“Sod right off you selfish fuck, two weeks into a fucking world tour, definitely the right time. He’s an idiot and a prick and he might as well still be seventeen for all the goddamn common sense he’s using...” 

Every head in the room snapped up at that – they all cursed, pretty frequently, but none of them ever said _that_ , not even Louis, who had the vocabulary of a dockhand and rarely stopped himself from sharing it, even just around the other lads and people he was very close to. 

No one was judging him, though. He’d already had a pretty major heartbreak just having split up with El, and he was still hurting from that when the man who was supposed to be his best friend betrayed him, betrayed all of them. He said as much, too, wondering out loud how long Zayn had secretly been planning this or if it was a spur of the moment decision. 

Liam quietly pointed out that they would have had to be blind not to guess that this was going to happen eventually. “It wasn’t a secret, Lou, how unhappy he’s been, how frustrated he was while we were recording. I mean, yeah, he picked a shitty way to do it, but even if none of us wants to admit it, we all suspected…”, he trailed off.

Louis continued on as if he hadn’t heard a word Liam said. “You all do what you like, but I’ll tell you now and it won’t change, I will not forgive him for this, not _ever_ ”, and stormed out the door with a pack of cigarettes in his hand.

Harry was still quiet, just observing everything. He was curled up in a ball under a blanket, his eyes visibly red and swollen from having cried so much and not getting any sleep. Every now and then a few fresh tears would fall, but the other lads left him to it. It was clear that nothing anyone said would comfort Harry right now. 

They all knew what Zayn and Harry would get up to now and then. But they didn’t know...well, there was a lot they didn’t know, to different degrees. Louis, maybe, might have known a little more than Liam and Niall did but even he had no idea how frequent it had become, how strongly emotions had developed over time. 

It was common knowledge in the band since they’d known each other just a few months, and among their closest circle of friends, that even at sixteen and seventeen, Harry had experience with girls and boys both – he didn’t really think it was that big a deal, to be honest. Sex was sex, hot was hot, Harry set his sights on what he wanted and ended up getting whatever it was the vast majority of the time. Being a bit younger than the rest of them didn’t mean he hadn’t seen more than his share of action, not that he was generous with many details. His _hookups _with Zayn were purposely portrayed by them both as just a casual thing.__

__Oh, but there was so very, very much more._ _


End file.
